At a glance: Morgan Stanley reaps profits from Chicago deal

Published 9:06 pm, Monday, August 9, 2010

Photo: Jacob Kepler, Bloomberg

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A "bank owned" sign sits outside a foreclosed home in the Mountain's Edge neighborhood of Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Thursday, April 15, 2010. Foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose 16 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier and bank seizures hit a record as lenders stepped up action against delinquent homeowners, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Photographer: Jacob Kepler/Bloomberg less

A "bank owned" sign sits outside a foreclosed home in the Mountain's Edge neighborhood of Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Thursday, April 15, 2010. Foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose 16 percent in the first ... more

Photo: Jacob Kepler, Bloomberg

At a glance: Morgan Stanley reaps profits from Chicago deal

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Icahn's funds benefit from energy stocks

Financier Carl Icahn disclosed that his hedge funds invested nearly $1 billion in energy stocks during the second quarter as they were pummeled by declining crude prices and the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Icahn plowed about $929 million into energy stocks in the period, bringing the total to 18 percent of the hedge-fund group's stock investments. The energy bet helped the funds record an 8 percent gain in July, when oil stocks rebounded.

For the first time since the start of the financial crisis in August 2007, U.S. investors own more Treasuries than foreign holders. Mutual funds, households and banks have boosted the domestic share of the $8.18 trillion in tradable U.S. debt to 50.2 percent as of May, according to the Treasury Department. The last time holdings were as high, Federal Reserve Chairman BenBernanke cut interest rates for the first time between scheduled policy meetings as losses in subprime mortgages spurred a flight from riskier assets.

Chicago drivers will pay a Morgan Stanley-led partnership at least $11.6 billion to park at city meters over the next 75 years, 10 times what Mayor Richard Daley got when he leased the system to investors in 2008. Morgan Stanley, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Allianz Capital Partners may earn a profit of $9.58 billion before interest, taxes and depreciation, according to documents for a $500 million private note sale by their Chicago Parking Meters LLC venture. That is equivalent to 80 cents per dollar of projected revenue. Standard Parking Corp., which runs 30,000 spaces at the city's O'Hare and Midway airports, earned 4.84 cents on that basis last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their properties are worth declined in the second quarter as tax credits boosted prices in California and foreclosures surged, real estate data provider Zillow.com said. The Seattle-based company found that 21.5 percent of homeowners were underwater on their mortgages, down from 23.3 percent in the first quarter and 23 percent a year earlier.

AstraZeneca to pay nearly

$200M to settle lawsuits

AstraZeneca Plc will pay about $198 million to settle 17,500 lawsuits, or about two-thirds of the total, alleging its antipsychotic drug Seroquel causes diabetes in some users. The settlements resulted from court-ordered mediation. AstraZeneca previously agreed to pay at least $55 million to resolve more than 5,500 cases alleging the company knew Seroquel could cause diabetes and failed to adequately warn patients. These earlier agreements are part of the 17,500 settlements.